New consortium to reduce cost of solar modules

In order to accelerate solar module materials discovery and development, the DOE SunShot program awarded $30 million, over five years, to a national laboratory-led Energy Materials Network (EMN) Consortium focused on durable module materials, DuraMat. Module materials account for 40% or more of total photovoltaic (PV) module costs, providing substantial opportunities for cost and performance improvement. DuraMat will drive innovation across materials design, data informatics, high-throughput synthesis and characterization, and durability testing of materials and components by integrating national lab, university, and photovoltaic industry capabilities. Sandia will lead the Predictive Simulation and Module Durability element, one of six elements comprising DuraMat. Sandia will also have team members in data analysis, materials discovery, and field deployment. Sandia is receiving a base funding of $500,000 per year for five years with the potential to increase Sandia’s contributions.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.